In a free market economy, where consumer markets are driven by competition between providers of goods, a provider wishing to compete for consumer business must make potential customers aware of the advantages and benefits of the provider's product. Such a provider must rely on effective marketing campaigns to educate potential customers about the product.
Designing an effective marketing campaign is necessarily limited by the means of the provider to fund advertising. Since virtually all providers have limited funds available for advertising, it is important to employ an advertising strategy that is efficient as well as effective.
Identifying consumers of similar products who might use the provider's product (the relevant market) and delivering a message about the product to as many such consumers as possible is the goal of an advertising campaign. Indirect marketing techniques--such as television commercials and magazine advertisements--are methods through which a provider delivers one advertising message that may reach many potential customers. While indirect marketing is common, the most efficient delivery of an advertising message is through direct marketing. With direct marketing, the provider delivers one advertising message for each identified potential customer that the provider plans to reach. This makes the most efficient use of the provider's funds spent on advertising
For example, when a provider pays for a television commercial to advertise his product, he cannot definitively know how many likely consumers of his product he will reach with the advertisement. While the provider may rely on statistics to determine how many people receive the message, it is impossible for the provider to know how many people receiving the message are within the relevant market and how many are not. Direct marketing has the advantage that the provider can be assured that all the money being spent on advertising is going to delivering the message to the consumers who are likely to be in the relevant market.
Manufacturers of printing devices such as printers, fax machines, copiers, etc., and replacement parts for such devices face the same marketing problems as any other provider in a competitive market. However, such manufacturers have a slight advantage in that, when a sale of such a device is made, replaceable component will inevitably be required for the device, such as toner cartridges, drums, etc. In addition, the devices may require service at some time or another. These events may be utilized to trigger marketing messages directed to the owner of the printing device.